The day was a gift from the golf gods, the emerald fairways shining under an azure sky and geese dotting turquoise water just beyond a green that beckoned even the worst hacker.
“It’s perfect,” said Barrington girls coach Jodi Schoeck, in a tone usually reserved for a cathedral.
“We treasure the good weather at this time of year,” said Schaumburg boys coach Tom Jacobsen. “You gotta love it.”
OK, lately conditions have been ideal for those who could sneak onto a Chicago-area course and chase the little white ball around in short sleeves.
But what about when the hawk swoops in and sends all of your eagles and birdies south for the winter? When the temperature gets low enough to freeze your tees? That’s golf in October in northern Illinois–when you have to worry more about ice than your slice.
“That’s the irony of the high school golf season,” said Jacobsen, who has coached the Saxons for 27 years. “You start in 90 degrees in T-shirts and shorts and you end up in the third week of October when it can really get mean.
“When it’s 45 degrees with a 20 mile-an-hour wind, you’re talking wind chill in the 30s–and then you have the gloves and hats and multiple layers of clothing.”
High school golfers have no choice but to adapt–especially since the Illinois High School Association made the decision to move the season from the spring to fall in 1974. And golf lovers, who have been known to tee it up in January, happily deal with these changeable conditions, because they know that October brings less crowded courses and some warm, sunny days that are worth treasuring.
Preston Irwin, director of golf at Schaumburg Golf Course, said the number of rounds drops about 10 to 20 percent in October, noting that the shorter days cut in the after-work traffic. He also said frost in the morning can cause delays and that late afternoons get pretty frosty, too. Not that that is a deterrent.
“You get your hard core golfers who will play in anything right up until the day we close,” he said, “but they’re a small percentage.”
Jacobsen, a Chicago native, says the difference in conditions forces changes in strategy. That is especially important to high school golfers who play the most crucial part of their season–conference and state tournaments–after the weather has started to turn.
“When the temperature goes down, the cold air is heavier so the kids have to realize that they’re not going to hit the ball as far,” he said. “The extra layers of clothing will also restrict your swing so you’ll be shorter.”
Jacobsen said there should also be a change in your mindset.
“I tell my kids `If it’s tough on you, it’s tough on everybody, so deal with it.’ I’ve played a lot of competitive golf and have found that good golfers can overcome it. The scores don’t change much playing in bad weather. If a kid isn’t mentally strong, he’s going to belly up.”
“You just have to block it out and concentrate on each shot,” said Barrington senior Kallie Daly.
Schoeck, who has coached at Barrington for 11 years, has two words of advice: Be prepared.
“By the time it starts to get cold, you have to have all of your gear with you–your gloves, headgear, umbrella,” she said. “And usually when it rains in the fall, it seems like the temperature starts dropping really fast, so you have to keep extra gloves and socks in zip-lock bags and a couple of extra towels to dry everything off.”
Schoeck also recommends waterproof shoes and clothing. Jacobsen agrees.
“There is one thing that is mandatory and that is to keep your extremities warm, your toes and your fingers,” he said. “… When they go, forget it. When they’re numb, you don’t have any feel for the long shot or putting.
“People forget about their toes and their head. You can lose a lot of heat from your head so you need to keep that covered. Also, you have to lengthen the muscles by stretching, putting the club behind your back, getting the back muscles and upper arms loose.”
On the other hand, or foot, you can’t be too concerned with what you’re wearing.
“I tell the girls `Don’t worry about what you look like, but what you can play in,’ ” Schoeck said. “You can’t worry about being perfectly matched. … you have to concentrate on your game.”
The golf course also changes with the seasons.
“In cold weather the ground will be hard so you get more roll off the tee ball,” Jacobsen said. “And the greens get more firm too. The ball won’t hold and the putts get faster. Some kids like that, but on the other hand you can three-putt pretty quickly.”
But there are some autumn advantages.
“The courses after Labor Day aren’t as crowded, so we don’t have to wait for later tee times and the pace is pretty good,” Schoeck said. “I really like seeing the changes in the trees–it’s so beautiful.
“I tell the girls that if they have bad shots sometimes to see some of that natural beauty and they can let go of the bad things.”
